Rachel Dowley

THE Murphy family of Cullintra Stud enjoyed a red letter day at Spruce Lodge last weekend, when siblings Leah and Killian were crowned champions in their respective sections of the Finals of this year’s Silver Spurs.

Riding Cullintra Gold, Killian earned a total score of 95.5 from visiting British judge Penelope Lang. This was enough to enable him to defend his under-11 section title, which he also won on his debut in this competition last year.

His older Leah sister then ensured a clean sweep for the family by topping the leader board in the open pony rider section on her promising young stallion RFS Socrates.

“I’m delighted for them both,” said mother and trainer Nadine Mueller afterwards. “Killian is so laid back that he only printed a copy of the test on the morning of the show, and while he enjoys flatwork and likes to make his pony go properly, I think he might head down the eventing route in the future.

“Leah on the other hand is very focused. She’s been working hard with Anne Marie Dunphy through the South East Region’s Youth Development programme and the HSI pony dressage squad, and her bursary will go towards further training with Anne Marie and also with Tracey Woodhead.”

The original format of the Silver Spurs was revisited in the restricted pony rider section this year, whereby the top three riders from the semi-final were required to ride-off against each other on each other’s ponies. Catherine Gorton made the most of this opportunity, capitalising on the experience she has gained from the wide variety of ponies she has ridden and surpassing semi-final victor Aoife O’Brien.

“Our win was totally unexpected,” she said afterwards, as her ride, the stallion Clochanard Paddy, was new to her to this season. “He belongs to Clochanard Connemara ponies and has little experience in between the white boards, so I’m delighted and proud of our win.”

Both Catherine and the winner of the junior section, Sam Micklem, supported the return to the ride-off format, concurring that it is a “valuable experience” for young riders.

Micklem, more often to be found enjoying success in eventing circles, rode the homebred Hi Heaven to victory ahead of Ciara Gilroy and Roisin Winters, and claimed that the result was all the more gratifying for having come on a horse he has trained from the start. Hi Heaven is a seven-year-old mare by Puissance out of Nuff Kisses, a full sister to the Mickem family’s stallion Jackaroo.

Like the pony section, the under-25 section was also split into open and restricted classes. The title in the latter went to Lynn Clark Hearty, while in the former it was Kevin Acres who emerged on top with an impressive final score of 91%. Fresh from a top 10 placing at the Hickstead Masters last month, Acres partnered his trainer Sandra Blake Farrell’s mare Biala Perla, and was quick to thank her for her continued support.

The winners were unanimous in their praise of the organiser, Caroline Moran, and the unparalleled facilities made available by the founder of the Silver Spurs programme, Joan Keogh. They were also grateful for the support of Dressage Ireland, Horse Sport Ireland and Mackey Equestrian.